HORSE
by femmefan1946
Summary: Follows 'It's Never Easy' Free Comic Book Day 2012 / Dark Horse Comics 2519CE Will eventually be part of my Firefly Family Saga 'Les Fleurs de Mal/ War Reparations'


**HORSE**  
Follows 'It's Never Easy' - Dark Horse Comics "Free Comic Book Day 2012"

2519 CE

'River! Don't canter! Ain't no room for canterin'.

'You know she'll want to keep him, sir.'

River, pouting, had slowed the captured horse to a walk. The smell of horse sweat filled the cargo bay, followed by the odour of urine and dung as the horse raised its tail and relieved itself. It shook its head and made a contented 'flurrmple', sound.

"And clean that up! You brought it on board, it's your responsibility!'

'Maybe you should have allowed the kitten, sir.'

'No second guessin. Get one of them lil critters in the vent shafts and we got all kinds of trouble. Least a horse can't get lost.'

"And clean that up! You brought it on board, it's your responsibility!'

'Maybe you should have allowed the kitten, sir.'

'No second guessin. Get one of them lil critters in the vent shafts and we got all kinds of trouble. Least a horse can't get lost.'

River had found a mop and a shovel and was conscienciously tidying after the horse. She removed its tack and carried it to her room. The horse wandered around the cargo bay.

'Horse needs feeding.'

'We ain't goin back for hay or even oats. What's our ETA for Highgate?

'Thirty-five hours,' River called up to them, where they stood on the companionway. She started brushing down the horse with her own hairbrush.

'That horse is gonna need feedin'. And we ain't got no hay, nor any place to get hay nor oats nor anything but protein till we hit Highgate.

'That cayuse weighs near on 450 kilos. He needs bout 10 kilos of hay every day he's on board. And skinny as he is, he needs good feeding. That hundan been starving him, pears.'

'His name is Wishes.'

'Well, start wishin for forage for your ride. Or start begging.'

"I think you actually understood her that time.'

'She makes more sense when she talks bout animals.'

The horse was nibbling on the burlap coverings of some cargo. Jayne came barrelling in from the galley.

"Git'm away from that! Mouthing an dribbling on it. Get it all sticky and tatterassed.'

'We're gonna have to sell him, sir.'

'Pears like it, Zoe. How long can we stay at Highgate?'

'Our customer is gonna be happy to see his cargo. No worries there. And the local warlords are pretty quiet at the moment. We'll need a new cargo before we leave. And some groceries. Good farming on Highgate, we can get some fresh stuff.'

'Anything you need special, Zo?'

Zoe sighed. 'One thing about protein, it does have all the vitamins and minerals body needs. Maybe some licorice, though. Or ume. Or gherkins.'

'No fruit? Milk?' Mal looked doubtfully at his very pregnant first mate.

'Don't coddle.'Zoe strode off, hardly waddling at all.

Mal shook his head and resumed watching his pilot communing with her new pet.

On Highgate, they met up with their customer who was surprisingly easy to deal with. 'Good to deal with a family, steada the gangs we been runnin inta most of the time.'

'Things rocky here?'

'Not really. The warlords are keeping their heads down while the Alliance is on world. They're all over the place an not always in uniform.'

'Spies?' asked Zoe.

'Nah. Just off work, but that don't keep 'em from paying attention to what's going on around 'em. Good soldiers, I guess, if they didn't make doing business a mite difficult.'

'Speaking of difficult, know any place I can get shut of a horse?'

'A horse on a spaceship? Sorta like tits on a bull, ain't it?'

'That's why I need to get shut. At worst I need several bales of hay. Best would be to sell it on.'

'Animal in good condition?'

'Can't promise that. We got it a bit back and it seems to have been some neglected. Needs more TLC than we can give it.'

'You could try …. humph…. you got me. Horses…. humph. Ask at the grocery stores. They deal with farmers, at least.'

Kayla had better luck at the junkyard. She made a deal on sticky explosive and metal tape with a scrap dealer who never looked up from her breasts once. Jayne, who was chaperoning on this poorly policed world, had started to growl when Kaylee cheerily thanked the letch and then asked if he knew of any hay being available. For the first time he took his eyes off her tits and looked interested.

'You want straw for packing? Or do you really want hay?'

'Hay. We have a horse.'

'On a spaceship?'

'We take the jobs we can get, ' Jayne said, glaring at the smaller man.

'Okay. Let me comm my brother in law.' A quick conversation led to directions to the outskirts of town.

Kaylee comm'd Simon to let him know where they were going. 'He worries, you know.'

_ • Highgate: the name of this moon comes from the first settlement. The moon is rich in minerals in the mountains with fertile fields surrounding. Initial settlements led to groups conducting frequent raids on each other. This began to change when Samuel Potempkin rallied his neighbors into building a fortified city. They ensured that the only way into his city was through a series of high porticullises for which they named both the moon and the first city: Highgate. Other territories followed suit, with various local minor lords ruling. But for the Alliance, the ruling hierarchy would rule with almost unlimited feudal powers as of old. So far, there excesses are kept in check by the Alliance though, for the most part, they keep a light touch due to some significant business arrangements with the local government._

Still in progress.


End file.
